HDSS Network, Health Sector Officials and Academic Institutions Sign MoU
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) Network and health sector officials and representatives of academic institutions to improve coordination in generating and using population ƀased health and demographic data for health planning and decision-making.
Organized by the Impact HDSS Ethiopia Project, the high-level event brought together leadership from the Ministry of Health (MoH), Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) and HDSS host academic institutions, to ratify governance frameworks, formalize data-sharing agreements, and advance evidence-informed health policy.
Dr. Mesay Hailu, Director General EPHI, delivered the opening speech, emphasizing the importance of a coordinated and standardized health surveillance system in supporting Ethiopia’s national health priorities.
Highlighting the scale of the network, Dr. Mesay noted that it brings together 14 public universities, one college and 15 surveillance sites, covering nearly 1.4 million people across more than 256,000 households. He emphasized the role of the network in generating long-term health and demographic evidence at the population level.
He also underscored the need to integrate the surveillance sites through standardized digital and technological platforms, which would help connect local-level data with national health policies, strengthen cause-of-death reporting, and improve disease surveillance and outbreak response. He acknowledged the support of partners, including the Gates Foundation and Vital Strategies, for the initiative.
Representing the Ministry of Health, Dr. Muluken Argaw, Strategic Lead Executive Office Director, underscored the importance of reliable population data in shaping health policy, strategic planning and targeted interventions.
Dr. Muluken highlighted the role of the HDSS network in generating evidence from communities and making that information available to support national health priorities. He emphasized that institutionalizing the network would strengthen the link between population-level evidence and decisions made at the national level.
He also noted the importance of sustained collaboration among the Ministry of Health, EPHI and the academic institutions hosting HDSS sites. Such collaboration, he emphasized, would support the continued generation and use of high-quality health and demographic data for planning and decision-making.
Technical presentations on the sustainability of the HDSS Network and the Management of Data Access and sharing, were featured on the program.